NetworkingKey part of making the most of

your time at the Institute & beyond

IAP 2003 SEBC Technology & Entrepreneurship Forum

Joost Bonsenjpbonsen@mit.edu

617.930.0415

Get Something Done or Just for Fun

• Pure Friendships• Project Collaborators• Business Partners• Personal Advisors

• Random Serendipity• Test ideas, float proposals• Brainstorming, leads, suggestions• Make the sale, get critical resources

• Many possibilities!

Alum Co-Founders• Stata & Lorber @ Analog

– Dormmates

• d’Arbeloff & De Wolfe @ Teradyne– ROTCmates

• Edgerton, Germeshausen, & Grier @ EG&G– Student & Professor

• Olsen & Anderson @ DEC– Labmates @ Lincoln

• Lewin, Seelig, & Leighton @ Akamai– Students, Friends, & Professor

• Chery, et al @ Virtual Ink– Students @ Ashdown & Undergrad

Agenda• People you ought to know

– MIT Peers– Industry/Academic Professionals

• How to reach out and connect– Tips – Introduction Ethos

• Elevator Pitch– Personal– Organizational

• Personal advisory board• Social Situations

– Craft your own

Personal Goals Driven• What are you trying to accomplish?

• Why would others be interested in this.

People You Ought to Know

• MIT-Scene– Top-down demographics

• Industry more generally

Student Demographics and Segmentation

• Who are your target audience?

• Where are organizers from?

• Interesting Cases– E.g. TechLink – campus-wide connections– E.g. SEBC – technology business– E.g. Development Initiative – internationals

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate Enrollment 4,300

First-yearUndeclared Second-yearSpecial Undergraduate Student

1,055118

Architecture and Planning 68

Engineering 2,011

Humanities and Social Science 142

Management 220

Science 785

MIT Graduate Students

Graduate Enrollment 5,672

Master Doctoral Special

Architecture and Planning 358 184 11

Engineering 1,408 1,096 50

Humanities and Social Science 21 290 4

Management 788 119 14

Science 31 935 8

Whitaker College 5 276 10

CAES - - 64

Embracing Alumni Connections?

• Are you fully tapping into wider MIT network?

• Success Stories– E.g. MIT Arab Alums, Lebanese students, et al– E.g. Club Latino– E.g. MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition– E.g. Nepal Clean Waters Venture -- Alumlinks

MIT Alumni Geo DistributionUnited States and Possessions 76,137   New England 21,251   Mid-Atlantic 20,894   West 12,861   Great Lakes 5,715   Southwest and South Central 5,970   Southeast 5,259   Northwest and Great Plains 3,662   Alaska and Hawaii 333   Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands,U.S. territories 192Asia 3,872Europe 3,746North America (other than U.S.) 1,636South America 1,060Pacific Ocean Islands and Australia 428Africa 355Central America 79

What are our numbers here?

• U vs G

• Sci vs Eng

• Alum

• Other?

Introduction Ethos• Ensure people you know also know

each other

• Work a room in pairs, collaborate

• Spatial positioning in a gathering

• The good host– Seek them out, be thankful– Be one yourself, it’s completely learnable

Presenting Oneself• Influencing thru introductory essentials

• Personal pitch

Influencing Others: Power of Connections

• Too often it’s not WHAT you know, but WHO that’s crucial

• Especially towards getting things done

• Seek social contacts widely– Peers, Professors, Employers, Analysts

• Build an “Advisory Board” much like a new company does

Focus on Tactics: Quick Presentation

• What’s your personal “Elevator Pitch”?

• Summary Essentials

• Why are you interesting from their point of view?

Personal Elevator Pitch

• I’m FirstName LastName

• Under/Graduate student at School/Department/Lab

• Studying in Program/Field

• Most Recently/Also a Last/Role at Previous Organization

• Now very interested in ShortSummary

Short Summary of Interests

• One paragraph or phrase with keywords

For Example…• “implications of wireless and mobile devices

on medical services”• “developmental technologies, that is, how to

dramatically improve people’s lives in LDCs”• “research lab strategy, or, how to keep a lab

vital and to finance next-generation research”

Organizational Pitch is the Same Thing

• We are ClubName• The MIT XYZ organization• Run events like NotableThing {1, 2, 3}• Hope to make a difference in

ShortMission

Key Tune it to what you know of your audience members interests

Soft Selling: Test Ideas On Target Demographic

• Pitch notions to peers etc, get their reaction• Have buildup effect, one thing inspiring next

• E.g. Developmental Innovations, some kind of Development Club Development By Design, Developmental Entrepreneurship class, SEID

Personal Advisory Board

• Formal or informal

• Go To folks for key personal challenges

• Pick people for at least 2/3:– Wealth– Wisdom– Work

Social Opportunity Savvy

• Other peoples parties, conferences

• Your own informal things

• Organization building leverage for change– $50K– TechLink– SEBC

Social Opportunities @ MIT

• Living Group commons

• Infinite interactions

• Pre’n’Post classes

• Club events

Get At Least Something out of Every Gathering

• Today & this afternoon at Venturefest!

Joost Bonsen

jpbonsen@mit.edu

617.930.0415

Fin